Have you ever noticed the intuitive warmth behind African hospitality?
What unfolded over our three-day trip is everything girls would dream of for the ultimate adventure with friends. A special place in Africa with people who take care of you like very important, very distant cousins.
You see in most African cultures, the more distant the relative, the bigger the fuss that is made over them when they visit. They get the best spot to sleep, the best blankets, the best cut of meat, the finest drinks, a special meal is prepared on their arrival and a gift made ready for them to take home when they leave.
Guess what we received as our going-home gift? On our first night at Ichingo Chobe River Lodge, waiting for us on our beds was a miniature bottle of Amarula and Africa-shaped coasters. How becoming; our shared adventure was meant to forge the Amarula Coffee Gang.
As I sat on the Airlink flight back to South Africa and sipped my last Amarula Coffee of the trip; I thought about my distant cousins and how I envied them as a child. We saw them once every couple of years and I just never understood the lengths my mother and grandmother went to give them things we never got. I grew older and able to read the letters they sent during the times they were unable to visit. I could feel the fondness and deep appreciation between the lines that recounted the stories we shared around the fire, waking up with the sun to fetch water and how they missed the smell of my mother’s raisin bread. The memories kept us in their hearts until they were able to return to our home. I too, cherish the memories we created at Ichingo Chobe River Lodge and Chobe Princess 3; they will carry me back to this special place where I felt at home and was spoilt like a distant relative.
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